Karpovich O.G. The US's role in the 2013 - 2014 Ukrainian crisis

Abstract: This article is devoted to the study of the US's role in the 2013 - 2014 Ukrainian crisis, which had led to the overthrow of the legitimate President Viktor Yanukovych and the rise to power of the right-wing anti-Russian forces, supported by the US and the EU. The object of the study is the 2013 - 2014 political crisis in Ukraine. The subject of the research is the US's role in the 2013 - 2014 political crisis in Ukraine. The purpose of this study is to identify and define the role of the United States (the "external factor") in the emergence and escalation of the political crisis in Ukraine which became fatal for the regime of Viktor Yanukovych. The author draws attention to the fact that the legitimate regime of Yanukovych was overthrown using the technologies of color revolutions designed by the Western states, primarily by the US. The research methodology is based on the system, structural-functional, comparative-political approaches, the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and observation. In late November 2013, mass protest actions were taking place in Kyiv, known as Euromaidan, which had been provoked by the decision of the Ukrainian leadership (the then Ukrainian President V. Yanukovych) not to sign the Association Agreement with the EU. The Euromaidan eventually led to the overthrow of the legitimate regime and the establishment of the pro-Western government, loyal to the US. The coup and the preceding events in Ukraine led to severe consequences for the country: it actually split, as the Euromaidan hadn’t been supported by all the citizens; the mass disturbances broke out in the south-eastern parts of the country which led to the loss of the part of the territory by Ukraine (Crimea was attached to the Russian Federation); the confrontation between the Kyiv government and the south-eastern regions led to the civil war which resulted in the dozens of thousands of victims and more than a million refugees. 

Keywords: